Dear Friends of Democracy,
Please ponder over the appended views and the reflections :
Reflections are in
parenthesis:
Press
Note From KLRao, International Member , Amnesty International, Convener VIBRANT
Bank Retirees & Bank Pensioners Forum, Camp- Uppal South End, Gurgaon,
Delhi NCR, India ( Moble-918179731467 ) :-
Repeated
Appeals from Bank Pensioners all over India ,individually and
collectively , from time to time, during the last two decades, have been
ignored by the officials of The IBA ( Indian Banks Association ) and the
Secretary, Union Ministry of Finance, The PMO, The Ministry of Social Justice
& Empowerment , bluntly, without knowing the real meaning of Pension, its
significance and relavence.
{MOF alone
formulates the Pension Scheme as per provisions of Act 5 of 1970 and 1980.Hence
they know A-Z of Pension Scheme.The mindset of MOF gets reflected through the
written statements, counters, rejoinders etc. being filed by them,and also
got filed through the Boards (Managements) of PS Banks in various court
cases including appeals , revisions etc. against the judgement that
went in favour of the hapless bank retirees. This also gets reflected in GOI's
Speaking Order of 2009 in case filed by Ganesh.K.Anand of RBI also .. Then what
would these mortal appeals from Bank Pensioners have a bearing on the
adamantine MOF and Bank Managements ?}
Pension
is upheld to be a right and not a bounty. Upgradation of pension is also
a right but not a bounty. Revision of Pay Scales and Revision of Pension
are inseparable.
These
are the points high lighted by the Judgment delivered on July first , 2015, by
the Bench Headed by Honourable Justice Shri Deepak Misra, who displayed good
comprehension of Pension Case Laws , in Civil Appeal No - 1123 of
2015
{ Bounty is
nothing but a bonus, donation, gift, present or reward being
accorded to a bonded labour or for that matter as a one time payment for
slavery .Revision of Pension is a concomitant to Revision of Pay Scales and
hence no cut off date can be fixed for its implementation. As and when the Pay
Scales get revised, so do the Revision of Pension. No highest level of
interpretation of this Law is necessary at all in respect of
employees of Undertakings coming within the ambit of Article 12 of the
Constitution of India , for, pension is not a bounty at all for them to be
arrived at with negotiations, talks, discussions, etc. as the Scheme gets
duly passed by both the Houses of the Parliament only. }
IBA
has to consider updation / upgradation of Pension to the Bank Pensioners,
immediately , which has been kept pending for the last two decades, unresolved,
ignoring repeated Appeals from Bank Pensioners.
{Pension
updation is not a new provision to be made. It was already there :
Paragraph 2 of
Appendix- I ( See Regulation 35 ) of ... Bank (Employees' ) Pension
Regulations, 1995 , notified on 29 09 1995 reads like this ........
" 2. The
formula for updating basic pension in respect of workmen who have retired on or
after the 1st day of November,1992 but before the 1st day of September 1993 and
in respect of officers who have retired on or after the 1st day of July,
1993 but before 1st day of May, 1994 shall be as under:" (
please refer to the Regulations for the formula) .
It should be
remembered that this formula for updation was brought out duly notified
in the Pension Regulations on 29 09 1995 as the Pension Scheme was
brought into force w.e.f 01 11 1993 as per Draft Regulations dated 01 11
1993 that could not be implemented without the requisite Statutory status.
Considering the objective with which this provision for the formula of
Updation of pension was incorporated subsequently in the pension Scheme
notified on 29 09 1995, it must essentially be understood that such a
provision was there with the RBI & CCS Pension Schemes and hence the
said formula had got to be carried out concurrently as and when a wage
revision for the Pay Scales takes place after the said notified
date 29 09 1995 , which did not happen in the case of PS Banks. May be
due to the courteous generosity of UFBU - IBA combine. For them ,pretension of
ignorance of Law alone seems to be always a surest way of
bliss.}
There
is urgent need for spreading this Land Mark Judgment.
Bank
Pensioners, LIC Pensioners and Defence Pensioners , who have been contributing
to society in their own way, now at the fag end of their lives, have been
deprived of justice , due to the adament and arrogant attitude of the
authorities / departments concerned. They lack empathy and lack uderstanding of
what is meant by Pension.
{ If at all we,
the hapless retirees with unblemished service to the Nation caused through the
PS Banks had at all caused irreparable damage to the prestige
and further with loss to the economy of the Nation through
our services, then we may deserve punishment awarded with due opportunity for
appeal to the Disciplinary Authority. But here, for no fault of us, the
Bank retirees, cut-off dates are being prescribed for various accrued benefits
of pension, like,
1. cut off date
01 11 2002 for 100 % DA neutralization for pre 2002 retirees
2. cut off date
1994 for payment of Gratuity on revised pay for those retired during
1993-94.
3. cut off date
27 11 2009 for those opting second option accepting the terms of
Joint Note Date 27 04 2010 sans the application of enforceable provisions
of Pension Scheme,1995 on the date of their admission into the Pension
Fund (besides riders like 56% lumpsum payment in lieu of 6% P.A simple
interest on CPF settled by employees who retired after 29 09 1995 but before 27
04 2010 , 2.8 months Nov. 2007 Pay as illegal contributions of employees
on rolls as on 27 04 2010 to pension fund flouting the provisions under
Regulations 5,7, & 11 ).
Why should
there be empathy at all when the fundamental rights of the hapless
retirees got to be necessarily infringed as a subservient step to go
ahead with the wage hike of 15% to the cadres of UFBU ? }
I
earnestly request the print media and electronic media, to publish / broacast /
telecast this important news, continuosly till the authorities open their eyes
and declare updation and upgradation of Pension.
{ In what
manner this serves the publicity of the prominence of the role of
media in a democracy ? Unlike the bureaucracy it is difficult for the hapless
retirees to throw dinner backed invitation to the press or media. They
may not like to treat this as if a marriage function in their family of media
.}
Many
Pensioners passed away, with agony of injustice and considerable
financial loss. Let there be no further delay.
{ So what ? The
Bureaucracy definitely comes out saying that they have to run the Public Sector
Financial Undertakings. Not Charitable institutions ( But with unlimited charity
to Kingfishers - for, the King goes on fishing in the precarious ponds of
the PS Banks) ,They even deliberately resort to claim
unabashedly that pension is a charity as a result of its being
treated as a welfare measure by both the UFBU - IBA combine
through their well orchestrated RECORD NOTE dated 25 05 2015
( How can the
poor , hapless bank pensioner compete with the mighty Kingfisher for
charity ?).
Now it is
easy for this blind cat ( MOF-GOI) to easily locate the rat (UFBU) that
got the BELL( Welfare Measure ) ceremoniously hung in its neck by the IBA
!}
There
have been many more anomalies in Pension Payment.I suggest the Union Government
to appoint an Ombudsman for exclusively For Bank Pensioners, for removing
anomalies and doing justice. ( For Fixing Family Pension at 30% of Pay and 100%
dearness relief for those who retired before 01 /11/2002, Not paying Pension
from the date of Retirement, collecting huge money from the Pension Optees, etc
)
{ Anomaly
? Yes anomaly in fixation of cut-off date for giving effect to 100
% DA neutralization in clause 3 of Appendix II ( See Regulation 37)
has got to be removed as per the orders of Hon'ble High Court of
Kolkatta dated 04 03 2015. It is being understood the IBA and GOI are
bent upon for further litigation to be moved with the Apex Court. Then what
sort of a bearing would the orders of an Ombudsman be there on the
adamant stance being taken by the BOARDS of PS Banks, and the MOF- GOI in
case of introduction of an Ombudsman for the PS Banks ? Justice
alone can be done by the Judiciary.
Let's look at
this for example:
5 years
notional service could be added only with the interference of judiciary
though it was very much there clearly mentioned in the Pension Scheme,1995 (
LAW):
VRS ( Service
Regulations ) Officers could be admitted under second option only with
judicial interference.
Updation of
pension being implemented from 2002 in RBI has got to be abruptly stopped on
technical grounds of lack of prior consent of GOI with the
intervention of GOI .- and the matter being dragged for litigation
through Speaking Order dt 2009 of the GOI.
Services of an
Ombudsman must be useful based on material facts related to the effects
of overriding the statute /rule .
In case of
abrogation,, abolition, annulment repeal , and revocation of any Law,
the matter deserves to be put to the scrutiny of Judiciary only.
How ever
, any step of the GOI in appointing an Ombudsman for
resolving the issues related to the Pension Scheme, 1995 in PS Banks would be a
welcome development , which we have to firmly doubt to happen based
on the stance being taken against the hapless bank retirees by the
GOI before various legal fora in the country.}
Thank
you very much.
I
would like to see the entire Indian Media focusing on this issue. .
KLRao
( Kantamsetti Lakshman Rao )
International
Member, Amnesty International
VIBRANT
Bank Retirees & Bank Pensioners Forum
Resource
Person, UGC-Academic Staff College, Andhra University, Waltair
Former
Faculty-In-Charge, Indian Bank Zonal Staff Training Centre, for Vizag Zone
& Vijayawada Zone.
Camp-
Gurgaon, Delhi NCR,India ( Mobile -918179731467)
VOX POPULI
MITHRA VAAKYA
SATYAKATARI
